Volunteer for Knox is a Volunteer Resource Centre increasing volunteering opportunities for businesses and individuals. Volunteer for Knox also provides ongoing support and training.
Volunteer for Knox are staying connected with their volunteers through regular phones calls, texts and emails. The organisation has also utilised Mail Chimp to stay connected with their 120 member organisations. Talking cafes, online cooking classes and meditation, creative writing, and storytelling via Zoom.
To manage high-risk category volunteers, Volunteer for Knox has increased contact to check on health and well-being. Other volunteers have also been dropping off little gifts to those in high-risk categories to brighten their day.
Adapting to a new online environment, the organisation has switched their monthly Volunteer Rights and Responsibilities talk to an online platform. To retain volunteers, Volunteer for Knox recorded a video volunteers are required to watch, and a PDF registration. Feedback from this exercise has been productive, assisted in placing volunteers in virtual roles.
Volunteer for Knox have received 300% more expressions of interest than would be expected under normal circumstances. Pet walkers, graphic design, pen pals for those in aged care, and hosting online social events are some examples of the way volunteers are staying engaged. Creative methods to keep these volunteers engaged include a social media campaign held over National Volunteer Week around the value of volunteering. The first five submissions won a gift voucher. A Zoom for Beginners training will also be offered, in conjunction with other online classes.
Preparing for changes post-COVID-19, Volunteer for Knox is preparing for a permanent increase in virtual volunteering. The online induction video has set the organisation up to handle this change. With a predicted unemployment rate of 10%, Volunteer for Knox is expecting to see an overall and sustained increased interest in volunteering.
By Ruby Jacobs, volunteer writer for Volunteering Victoria
